So you have Planned, Sculpted and Designed. Now it is time to Beautify. I usually place objects before Terrain Painting but it's not a rule. You will switch between object placement and terrain painting as needed. So I'm going to use Lights as the example because all objects are placed the same way.

1. Earlier I explained that you must create layers BEFORE you start laying Anything on your world. If you skipped that section, read this chapter first.

2. Now you have your layers. Select the layer you want to work on and make it active. In my example below I am using the layer 'lights'. Next select the object you want to place from the Game objects list by double-clicking it.

Wednesday, 14 December 2011

This Chapter is likely to be updated regularly since I'm still learning about terrain painting. But I know enough to get you started. Just like in Terrain sculpting, you learn by doing. So let's proceed.

Tuesday, 6 December 2011

Through experience and some trial and error I have come up with this, hopefully easy, method of building your world and avoiding disaster. It isn't the only way to do it, but I can assure you that it is painless and quick. so here goes.

1. If you don't know anything about placing roads. Read this tutorial first

2. First we need LAYERS. I don't know the technicalities of having layers, but I do know they are useful for grouping your world into categories, which helps with management and game speed. A lot of objects go into the world and with layers, you can keep them separated, so that damage to one group will not affect another and you can also delete a whole group of objects at once

3. A quick revision. I assume by now that you have started a new world, and have the decided where your sunset/sunrise is and have also drawn up a preliminary rough sketch. All this saves time in future. Always remember to save your world regularly. You can rename your world at anytime before export, so don't worry.

These are the basics of terrain sculpting. I can only tell you what the tool does, but you have to actually use it to get a feel of it. I would advice that you open a blank world for practicing and just have a go at it.

1. Click Terrain tab on the Main menu, select terrain painting tools. A new panel will open on the right. Select Sculpt tab.

1. Add a new LAYER. Do this by right-clicking the "World Layer" or "yourname.world" (if you have named your world) link under the World layers panel on the left side. Next right-click the new layer_1 and select MAKE LAYER ACTIVE.

Thursday, 1 December 2011

What will your world look like? That's the basic question. I don't always know. Personally I like to sort out the Road system and lot placements first. The actual shape of the world will work itself out. This way, the shape is not too regular like a square or a circle. I feel randomness enhances a natural look. Plus I don't really plan where there would be hills or valleys until I start sculpting then I just go with my guts.

Here is my Rough sketch of the central part of my town, my starting point. It doesn't look like much, yet. Now I will show you how I came up with it.